Many of you may remember a speed boat race held years ago out of Dana Point Harbor, and it was really foggy. At the time, I was delivering a mega-yacht in the area, and I could hear these muscle machines flying past while my radar screen was peppered with targets. Oh, did I mention the dense fog?
Then my boat's radio broke silence as pleasure boaters started to radio the Coast Guard about very fast boats extremely close to their boats, but hidden in the fog. A few boaters reported that racers were stopping to ask their location since these race boats are not equipped with radar. This is an example of bad seamanship and not adhering to maritime law.
How fast can you go in your boat while in inclement conditions — and by inclement conditions I mean fog, rain, snow storm, or any condition where visibility is restricted? You can only cruise at a safe speed that will allow you to stop in time to avoid a collision. It is up to the skipper to determine safe speed for the conditions at the time especially when traveling inside Newport Harbor. When underway in fog, the whistle signal is one prolonged blast every two minutes, and if anchored outside an anchorage then rapid ringing of the ships bell for five seconds every minute. Who knows the fog signal for a vessel that is aground in the fog?
This week a question comes via e-mail: "Why do some boats have registration numbers on the bow and other boats have the boat's name displayed?" Good question — and many boaters are unaware of two methods to register a vessel.
